By Staff
Events set for Saturday
By Thomas Tingle
Record Managing Editor
If you haven't circled Oct. 5 as the day to take you and your family to downtown Madison, it's time to mark your calendar now and get ready to have a day of good family fun this weekend.
The annual Madison Street Festival is set to get under way Saturday with a parade and more than 100 booths that will be set up along Main Street and Front Street in downtown Madison from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
It's been a tradition in Madison for more than 21 years and this year, organizers say the festival is planned to be bigger and better than ever.
Madison Street Festival 2002 will begin with a parade at 8:45 a.m. – rain or shine. The emphasis of the event is to bring families together for a day of fun, good food and lots of entertainment. Participants in the parade are free of charge to any group or individual who would like to participate. The parade route is the same as last year and all participants will need to be in the lineup position by 8 a.m.
The procession will then proceed down Main Street, turn right onto Sullivan Street, right onto Front Street, left onto Church Street, left onto Mill Road, left onto Sullivan Street and left onto College Street, ending at Madison Elementary School.
More than 15,000 people are expected to attend the festival.
Dozens of booths have been set aside for amusement. Some of the booths will contain a number of fun activities for the children. There will be more than a dozen food booths and several information booths, a children's area with entertainment for children, an art tent, dozens of demonstrations, live entertainment, several dozen craft booths and lots more.
A variety of foods will be served including funnel cakes, hotdogs and hamburgers, polish sausage, home made candies and lots of other tasty treats.
Nearly all of the entertainment is local and folks from around the area will be displaying their works in the craft booths. A variety of crafts will be displayed and for sale. They include baby items, hand-stamped cards and umbrellas, light houses, jewelry, soap, candles, metal crafts, holiday ceramics, wooden toys, Christmas ornaments, floral baskets and wreaths and other seasonal items.